Almandine
by YamiAkane97
Summary: Another story for maridoodle's Witch AU. I suppose you could consider it an addition to 'Blue Lace Agate'


_(Almandine is a type of Garnet stone, known for tolerance, Inspiration and affection *snickers*)_

 **Another story for maridoodle's Witch AU. This was also posted on my tumblr account, 'yaoi-is-ruining-my-life'. I recommend having a look at maridoodle's Witch AU on tumblr before reading!**

 **{*}**

Law pulled a face, pure disgust "Ugh, you're a mess."

In all honesty, Kid couldn't see what the problem was. Yeah, sure, there was a bit of blood matted here and there in his hair, and his arms were coated in soot and god knows what- but they weren't even his arms, so who gave a fuck? Clearly, Law did.

"When you're going to maim yourself, you should at least try to avoid making a mess of yourself. That way you can't risk infection."

Law's scolding was an easy enough distraction from what the doctor was doing with his hands. It was as though he was punishing Kid by not giving him anything to relieve the pain he was receiving from the needle in Law's hand. Stitches, Kid found, were nasty little pricks to put in and take out.

"There you go again, acting like you know everything," Kid tsked and rolled his shoulders, mostly just to annoy Law. It worked, he saw just the tiniest twitch of a nerve under Law's eye. He may hate stitches, but he didn't mind if they were crooked. Not if he got a rise out of Law.

He was lucky though to have found Law. The witch hunter's they'd run into had turned out to be a real nasty bunch, not hesitating in the slightest to use their own illegally obtained powers to attempt to catch them. Whilst Kid had managed to level the town his coven had been staying at, he hadn't exactly walked away unscathed. Thankfully, Law had also been on the same island.

Killer, his ever loyal best friend, was standing at his side while tapping his foot impatiently. He made it no secret that he didn't like Law anymore than he liked this tiny - apparently abandoned- cottage hidden in the forest on the outskirts of the town Kid had just demolished.

"I'm going to make a poultice out of Comfry leaves, and then you're going to get out of here," Law told him, and turned away to where his own coven stood outside at the doorway, "Your shoulder should heal up within a week with my magick."

The matter of fact tone pissed Kid off, but mostly it struck at his own ego. Although he didn't appreciate Law's lectures about how to take care of himself, he knew he'd been right. Law's expertise in Medical magick was infamous, whereas Kid himself couldn't tell the difference between a broken arm and a fractured. Killer was adept at patching up minor scrapes and injuries, but anything more than that was beyond his knowledge. Kid made a mental note to pick up a doctor sometime soon.

"In the meantime, try to refrain from using your left arm and keep it out of water," Law took the knapsack his friend offered him - some dorky looking guy in a hat that spelt out PENGUIN along the bill - and produced a bunch green leaves stored in a magickly altered mesh bag (no doubt to keep them fresh), a stone mortar, a bottle of water, and a lump of charcoal. Kid watched from his make-shift bed on the floor as Law gracefully sat down with practiced ease onto the wooden floor, and began to grind the indigence together with some added water.

Suddenly very aware of Killer's presence and Law's own coven standing at the open door of the cottage, Kid felt uncomfortable. He looked up at Killer and motioned for him to bend down to his level.

"Take pretty-boy's coven here and go see if anyone of our own need's medical assistance," He instructed, a small smirk working its way onto his face when he heard Law's teeth grind together. Either he was mad about the 'pretty boy' comment, or he just didn't like someone else ordering around his coven. It didn't matter to Kid, he'd take whatever he could to get underneath the doctor's skin.

Killer frowned, "But-"

"Just go!"

Huffing, Killer stood up and marched out the door, grabbing one of Law's friends and dragging him out the door, prompting the others to follow.

Once he heard the door shut with a click, he moved closer to watch Law, fully aware of the glares he was receiving.

"What right do you have to order my coven around, Eustass?" Law growled, mashing the ingredients together with more force than Kid though necessary.

Kid snorted loudly, "I'm a patient, I have every right to kick whoever I don't want out of my room."

Law spared him an unamused glare, "This is hardly a hospital room."

Kid shrugged, wincing when he felt a sharp pain from his injury twinge. "Who cares, I wanted to be alone with you for a bit."

Law rolled his eyes and went back to his poultice, ignoring Kid as he moved closer, until Kid was so close he was practically sitting right in front of Law and the mortar.

"You know," Kid started, eager to get Law to talk some more, "You can take that cloak off if you want to. Ever heard of manners, Trafalgar?"

Kid was surprised when he saw Law had frozen in his motions, the repetitive clunk clunk of the pestle stopping for a moment. He raised his red eyes from the mortar to look at Law's face, which had gone blank.

Law seemed to recover himself after a few seconds. He went back to mashing and avoided Kid's eyes. "I don't take it off."

"Huh?" Kid frowned, puzzled, "Why the hell not?"

He saw Law's throat move as the doctor swallowed. Law's sudden discomfort intrigued him, for Kid had only ever seen the other man remain stoic and impassive, either an annoyed or unamused look on his face.

"I just don't, so drop it."

But Kid found that he couldn't stop. Law had always fascinated him, being another big name witch with a high bounty- seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The hunters knew he came from up North, but that was about all they had on Law's history. Kid would be lying if he said he wasn't interested. This new-found discovery pushed all of Kid's interests, and he wanted to see how far he could take it.

"It's just a cloak," He said, and reached out with the clawed demon arm he'd borrowed to pull at the cloak.

Law's reaction was instantaneous. He leapt to his feet, with the same grace as before, and shoved the arm roughly away. A vicious, animalistic snarl had ripped it's way through Law's throat - a warning- and Kid quickly toppled backwards.

The pain in his shoulder flared up, but Kid forcibly pushed the pain to the back of his mind. At this point, he wasn't sure what to expect from Law, but if it was a fight he'd have to be ready.

But Law hadn't moved from where he stood, instead he was glaring at Kid- his face a storm cloud- and breathing raggedly, like he was trying to contain his anger.

"Don't. Fucking touch. Cora-san's cloak." Law seethed, and Kid could see Law's fists were clenched in tight fists. They were shaking. Why? Why were they shaking? What could possibly have made Law so angry he'd actually be physically trembling?

"Alright, alright," Kid put his arms out in front of him, showing Law his palms whilst morphing both the arms back into his own, human ones. "I ain't gonna touch it."

Law eyed him for a couple of moments, before the tension his his body gradually began to dispel. He dropped his eyes and sat cross-legged in-front of the mortar again, choosing again to ignore Kid.

Perplexed, Kid shuffled forward until he was off the floor and on his make-shift bed again. He resumed his Law-watching, opting to keep silent for awhile until he was sure Law had calmed down.

His eyes flickered from Law's hands to his face rapidly, wondering when it would be safe to talk again. Only a few minutes had passed, but it was Law who broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for snapping," Law apologized without looking in Kid's direction. "This coat is…very dear to me. It was given to me by my father-figure before he died."

Kid said nothing, hoping with every fiber of his being that Law would continue. When he didn't, Kid felt it would be alright to prompt him along into talking.

"How did he die?"

A humorless chuckle escaped Law's lips, and he glanced at Kid for a second before turning back to his work to add more water, "You're completely insensitive, you know that?"

Kid gave a small shrug, careful not to upset his stitches anymore than he already had, "I've been told."

A tiny smile was on Law's lips, like he was remembering something he was fond of. He didn't stop working as he spoke softly, his voice laced with emotion, "He died trying to cure me of a poison, while protecting me from his brother at the same time."

Law stopped for a second and fished something out, hidden underneath the folds of his clothing. Kid leaned in closer to get a look at the beautiful sky blue stone pendant in Law's hand, connected to a leather string around the doctor's neck.

"He gave me this too, do you know what it is?"

Kid frowned and studied the stone harder, "I'm no expert on stones or anything, I work more with transformations than anything, but that's Blue Lace Agate, right?"

Law was still smiling that fond little smile of his as he tucked the stone away, "Yes, it's a stone used to protect children. I guess it worked."

"So those are the only things you have left of him?"

Law nodded and resumed his work, and from what Kid could tell he was almost done.

Kid sat back and let his mind turn over this new information about Law. So at one point of his life, Law had watched a loved one die. That wasn't very uncommon amongst witches, who were sought after since birth. Whoever this father figure was, he'd left a massive imprint on Law's life. Again eager, Kid tried to prompt Law for more.

"You didn't really answer my question, how did he die? Did hunter's get him or something?"

Kid could see how hunter's might have killed Law's father figure, after all, hunters were constantly seeking the blood of witches- young or old. They spared no one, except for those that paid hansom prices and agreed to work for the hunters. Hell, Kid himself had learned to fear hunters ever since he was a kid. Children weren't spared from the horror stories of hunters capturing witches.

Law shook his head, and Kid noticed the smile had disappeared only to be replaced with a firm line. "No, it was his brother that killed him. Used a blessed bullet and all, right to the heart."

Now that Kid hadn't been expecting. A witch killing another witch? It wasn't unheard of, but it was still something pretty big. With numbers already low in the witch community, magick blood was to be spared at all costs. To hear that a witch had killed another witch, let alone his own brother, could be considered a sin amoungst even witches.

"His brother?" Kid asked, voice near disbelieving. He shook his own head when Law nodded, "That's fucking messed up."

"He then tried to kill me, but Cora-san's spell was still in effect." Law suddenly looked up and gave Kid the biggest bone chilling grin Kid thought he could possibly muster, "And I got away."

Kid searched Law's face for a full minute before grinning back, "And you plan to kill the bastard, don't you, Trafalgar?"

"Naturally," was all Law said and then stood up, making his way over to where Kid sat. Kid wanted to squirm as he felt the cold poultice on the wound. But Law's hands were gentle, and he found himself relaxing against them.

"I will kill him, and I'll make sure he regrets hurting Cora-san and myself like he did," Law told him with a sweeping gesture of his hand across the wound.

"I'll help you," Kid offered, ready to kill whoever Law wanted him to. Attraction was a difficult thing to swallow, and Kid was practically drowning in it.

Law gave him a dry smile, "How sweet of you, but I already have someone else in mind. I'm embarking out from here to go meet with him."

"Who?" Kid asked, genuinely curious.

Law's smile turned mysterious as he pulled away, producing a cloth from his pocket and wiping away the access poultice from his hands.

"You'll find out soon enough. I expect it'll make front page, Eustass."


End file.
